A man led a San Diego police officer on a short pursuit in a stolen car, crashed in Chula Vista, jumped a fence into a trucking yard and escaped Tuesday.

It began in the Nestor neighborhood of San Diego shortly after 7 a.m. when an officer tried to pull over the driver of a silver Infiniti because it had no rear license plate, Officer Matt Tortorella said.

Officers searched other rigs in a truck yard, but couldn't find the car thief.

John Gibbins

Officers searched other rigs in a truck yard, but couldn't find the car thief.

Officers searched other rigs in a truck yard, but couldn't find the car thief. (John Gibbins)

The driver sped off, went north on Beyer Boulevard and into Chula Vista, where the street becomes Broadway. At some point, Tortorella said, the officer who was in pursuit said the other driver tried to ram his patrol car in the front.

The Infiniti crashed into a semi-truck that was pulling out of an alley off Main Street a few minutes later. The sedan got stuck under the truck tractor and the driver ran off. He jumped a fence into a large, fenced lot full of parked tractor-trailer rigs and several buildings.

San Diego and Chula Vista officers searched for the man, described as Latino, in his 20s, and wearing a gray hoodie and white shorts. They called off the search about 8:30 a.m., figuring he had gotten out before they had to truck lot fully surrounded.